Improvement in operating ordnance



' J. B. EADS.

Operating Ordinance. N o. 46, 342.

Patented Feb. 14, 1865.

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N. PEIERS. PHOT0-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D c

UNrrn rrrrns JAMES B. EADS, OF

IMPROVEMENT IN 0 ArnN'r ()rrrcs.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

PERATING ORDNANCE.

' Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,342, dated February 14, 1865.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES B. EADS, of St. Louis, State of l\Iissouri,United States of Amen ica, have invented an improved method of working guns in fortifications and in float-- and lateral training of the gun with the utmost facility, all the movements of the gun being effected in such a manner that the muzzle forms the central point thereof.

The advantages of the said invention consist in greater security for the operators, who are thus enabled to work behind the fortifications,- easemates, or turning turrets, always secured against the dangers which are involved in the use of large port-holes. Besides, by the use .of small port-holes the armor or wall which protects the men is not weakenedin the same measure as with larger port-holes, all the directing movements of the gun being imparted thereto at a point entirely inside of the inner line of the wall, and at some distance back from the muzzle or pivoting point of the gun, so that the integrity of the defense may be preserved.

I have represented my invention in the annexed drawings,whereFigure1 isa partly sectional elevation of the apparatus, showing the truck or lower carriageupon which is mount ed the guncarriage, and also the different parts which actuate the said truck; first, the serewshaft; secondly, the levers by which said truck is controlledin its movements; thirdly,the vertical shaftwhich imparts the movementthrough the beveled wheels to the screw-shaft. Fig. 2 is a plan showing the truck and the levers controllin g the movements thereof, and also the screw-shaft and theuniversal j oint therein with some other parts of the machinery, which will be better understood by means of the explanations which will be given hereinafter. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the gun-carriage mounted on its truck. Fig. 4. 1s a top view of the gun and the levers which reuse the samewith a portion of the sides of the gun-carriage under them. Fig. 5 is a section through the line 1 2 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is another vertical section through the line 4 5 of same figure.

In all these figures the same letters of reference stand for the like parts in each. 7

This invention, as I have said,'consists in the possibility of giving the gun all desired directions, either vertical or horizontal,without displacing sensibly the muzzle for the purpose of having as small a port-hole as result I attain by devices which i'mpart to the gun its movements, the center of rotation of which is the muzzle of the gun itself. The movements to be imparted to the gun are of different sorts. The gun must be enabled to assume, first, allpossible inclinations in the vertical plane; secondly, all possible inclinations in the horizontal plane; thirdly, a rectilinear toand-fro movement for entering or being driven from the port-hole. I willsu ccessivel y describe these different movements,which, as I have before said, have all of them the muzzle of the gun as center of oscillation. a, section of wall showing the port-hole b,- c, platform or floor lower carriage upon which is placed the guncarriage 0. New, to give the gun different in clinations in. the vertical direction, I first impart a rotary motion to the crank f,which imparts its motion to a wheel, 9, gearing with wheel h,which slides upon the shaft i,which is made to slide into wheel h, so as to permit the necessary elongation when the shaft is bent in the universal joint. The shaft t is formed of two parts, j and 10, connected together by a universal joint, Z, the construction of which may be varied, as desirable.

Round the part 70 of the shaft z is a hollow threaded shaft, m, bearing a nut, n. The two shafts m and k are set in connection by means of a clutch, o, the hollow shaftm being looseupon the shaft k. The clutch 0 is so arranged as to slide upon the shaft 7;, but in such manner as to turn constantly therewith by means of a feather formed within the clutch, which-slides in a longitudinal'groove formed upon the shaft 75. By causing the clutch 0 to move against the end of the hollow shaft,said clutch is made to adhere thereto, either by a frictional or any other known device, so as to make the hollow shaft turn. When the connection exists, if to the crank f is imparted a rotary motion, then possible, which upon which the truck at rotates; d, truck or the nut n will receive, through this movement in one or other direction, a rectilinear motion on the shaft 111, which shaft is held in a crosspiece, 2', fixed to each side of the gun-carriage; but as the rods 1) are connected to nut a they will follow its movements, and will cause the segments and the levers q, to which they are attached at q, to oscillate round the fulcrum 1-, when the ends 8 s of said levers will be raised or depressed according to the direction given to the crank f, and the breech of the gun will follow the movements of the end of said levers q and as it is attached to the ends of the latter by means of the cross-piece t, which itself is at tached to the end of the gun. At the same time the levers q q are elevated the levers a will be set in motion. These levers support the gun c at one of their ends 00 by means of two pins placed on the opposite sides of a collar surrounding the gun at this point. These pins enter slots formed on the ends a: of the levers a a, which slots are to be long enough to permit horizontal motion of the gun produced by the vibrations of the levers qq. The other ends, y 51 of levers a u are held at the same point of elevation bymeans of two rods, 2 z, jointed at l to the guircarriage e, and by their upper ends to the levers u a, which upper ends constitute the center of oscillation of thelevers a it. At

' the same time the rods 2 2 permit of the nec essary longitudinal movement of the, leversa it caused by the vibrations of thelevers q q. The levers a a are pivoted at 2 2 to the levers q g, by which means they are elevated or depressed according to the direction given to levers q q. The axes 2 2 of the levers a a traverse the levers q (1, one arm of the levers a a being on one side of the levers q q and the other arm on the other side. By this arrangement of levers the ends 3 1 of q (1 move more rapidly, but al ways in the same direction that the ends 00a: of the levers u a move in, and impart to the breech of the gun, and to that part supported atoc w, the proper velocity required to rotate them in avertical plane, the central pointof which will be at the muzzle of the gun.

The ineans of giving the gun the various inclined positions in the vertical plane being understood, .I will describe the means by which the gun-Carri ge is made to assume a longitudinal motion upon the truck or lower carriage.

The guncarriage 0 being mounted on the truck (1, as shown, its movements are guided thereon by means of four guides, 3 3 3 3,

. screwed on the sides of the carriage. The lower ends of these guides slide in grooves at 4, Figs. 3 and 5, formed in the sides of the truck to receive them. By this means the carriage is not liable to any derangement in its position. In

order to reduce friction, rollers may be placed between the gun-carriage and the lower carriage. The screw-shaft It is of a size to admit of an independent movement in the hollow shaft m. 011 this innershaft, it, there is a nut, 5, formed of two equal parts, so that when these two parts are separated the shaft is allowed to rotate freely between them without actuating the nut 5 but when the two said parts are brought together, then the rotation of shaft it will impart to the nut 5 a rectilinear motion in one or the other directions,according to the directionimparted to the crankf. Now, as the nut 5 is attached to the end of the carriage e, the latter will. follow the rectilinear movements. thereof. The two parts of the nut will move in grooves transverse to the axis of the shaft k, and be set apart or brought together at will by means of any suitable devices operated by a hand-lever. They may also be made to open automatically when the nut has reached either end of its course by such or similar de vices as are used in reversing the motion of the bed or table of a planing-machine, and thus all danger of straining the machinery if the nut .be kept closed too long on the revolving shaft will be avoided; but these are only details of so plain a nature that they will be readily understood by anyone skillfulin the art without further explanation. All that is requisite is the opening of the nut sufficiently apart for liberating the'shai't and closing the same firmly enough to permit of its seizing upon the thread.

This rectilinear movement of the gun-carriage upon the lower carriage or truck being understood, I will describe the means whereby I give the gun differentdirections in the horizontal plane. These means are the same as those already described for giving the gun variable vertical inclinations, except that but one set or pair oflevers is required, and these move in a horizontal manner and control the movements of the truck in such a way as to cause its motions to have for their center a point in a vertical line drawn through the center of the exterior of the port-hole.

To allow of an easy oscillation of the truck or lower carriage, I provide its two ends withfour rollers, 7 7 X and 7 7 The screw-shaft It has on its end a frietion-roller, S, or apinion gearing with the two wheels 7 X 7 so that when the friction-roller and the shaft ]{1' are engaged the wheels 7 X 7 X will turn and cause the truck to pivot. A lever, 7, jointed to the end of the truck at 8 and free to oscillate round the axis 6, corresponds to the levers q g on the guncarriage. Another lever, 9, jointed on one part to a stationary plate, 10, by means of a pin, 11, and a slot, and on the other part to the lower carriage, likewise by means of a pin, 12, and a slot,corresponds to the levers u u on the gun-carriage. This connection of the le ver 9 by means of pins and slots, as said, is intended to permit the necessary longitudinal movement of 9, caused by the vibration of the long lever 7. The lever 9 is attached in the same manner as the levers a a on the lever 7, by means of a pivot or axis, 13, fixed through the said lever 7. The bearings 14 and 15,which support the shaft j, are joined together under the shaftin such a manner as to allow the bearings to move apart to accommodate the elon gation of the shaft, caused by the deflections of the universal joint. The two parts forming these bearings are pivoted around the axis 6 and at the point16. Now, it will be easily understood that if the great lever 7 is displacedby causing the rollers 7 X 7 X to rotate,which rollers set the end of the lever 7 into motion, the conditions will be exactly the same as those described with regard to the vertical inclinations to be given to the gun, only in this case the gun is replaced by the truck. Now, the truck being displaced, the lever 7 will oscillate round the stationary point 6. During this oscillating motion the lever 9, in pivoting at the point 11 will be displaced, for in the oscillating movement of lever 7 the point 13,where the two levers are jointed together, has been displaced. Now, the end 12 of the lever 9 being connected to one end of the truck, thelatter will follow the movement of the end 12 of the lever 19, while the other end of the same truck will follo the, same movement as the end 8 of the great lever 7, and all these movements are arranged and combined (like those heretofore described in alluding to the movements of the gun) in such a manner as to have for their center of oscillation the horizontal projection of the gun-muzzle.

Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the lower carriage, and I have drawn different positions in order to better show the working of the various pieces and parts in the movement of the truck round the point 17. To avoid confusion one of said positions is shown. in black andthe other in red. I likewise have represented the gun-carriage sliding on the truck in two various positions.

From What has been said it is plain that the gun thus placed on the two carriages, as described and shown, may first assume all the desired inclinations in both vertical andhorizontal planes, still preserving as center of its movements the muzzle, and consequently the latter, not moving sensibly, will require but very small port-holes, and in the second place it may assume movements to and fro on the lower carriage.

The use of a shaft with a universal joint is not absolutely necessary, as one stiff shaft may be used having its axis always parallel to the I long lever under the truck,while the nuts and hollowshaft maybearranged to slide from side to side of the gun-carriage, according as the truck is trained, and as may be required by the changing position of the shaft.

I claim 1. Supporting a gun at two different points in its length by a combination of devices on a gun-carriage acting in connection with each other in such a manner as to rigidly compel the gun, whenever it is moved in a vertical plane, to rotate about a point in advance of said devices, and at or near its muzzle.

2. Controlling the horizontal movements of the chassis or lower carriage which supports the gun-carriage by a combination of devices acting in connection with each other upon the chassis at two different points in the length of the latter in such a manner as to rigidly compel its longitudinal axis to rotate abouta point in advance of the chassis,and the devices which control its' movements, so that the center of rotation may be on the exterior of a'defensewall,while the devices are on the inner side of it at some considerable distance from the center of rotation.

3. The use of the axis 6, Fig. 1, at a point not the center of rotation of the chassis,when used in combination with other devices, for the purpose of producing. a center of rotation for the chassis at a different point from said axis.

4. The use of axis 6, Fig. 1, at a point not the center of rotation of the chassis, when used as a channel for the conveyance of power to operate the gun.

JAMES B. Enos.

itnesses:

SAVIALLY, E. SHERMAN GOULD. 

